City to re-stripe 900 downtown parking spaces

LAS CRUCES — OK, so it's not as glitzy as the reopening of Main Street, but other traffic improvements are under way in downtown Las Cruces.

If you're going to cruise up or down Main Street for the first time in 43 years, it makes sense that you might want a place to park your vehicle. So, the city has begun re-striping 900 parking spaces in public lots downtown.

"That's a big deal to me," said Ramon Grado, a recently retired mechanic who often goes downtown to the Las Cruces Farmers and Crafts Market, and to dine in restaurants. "It's one of those things that always seems to fall between the cracks because not a whole lot of people really think about it. But most of the parking spaces downtown have gotten really faded and (motorists) don't always park the right way because it's hard to see exactly where they should park."

Assistant City Manager Brian Denmark agreed the re-striping of downtown parking lots is important to businesses there and customers.

"As the city continues to focus on downtown revitalization, other efforts are under way to address critical day-to-day needs," Denmark said. "Plenty of people have commented on the need to re-stripe downtown parking lots. (City) staff is finally in a position to address these needs.

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Eric Martin, city facilities management administrator, said the city's Public Works and Transportation departments have combined resources to re-stripe eight parking lots. Public Works is funding materials and design assistance, while the Transportation Department is providing labor and equipment.

"Every three to four weeks we'll be re-striping a lot," Martin said. "We're striping over existing lines in those lots."

Already, city-owned lots at the northwest corner of Griggs Avenue and Water Street, just south of El Paso Electric Co., and lots near the city's Museum of Nature and Science and Branigan Cultural Center have been rehabilitated. The lot at Griggs and Water, the largest of all city-owned downtown parking lots, was re-striped during the Thanksgiving holiday.

The remaining seven city parking lots to be re-striped have been determined on a priority basis. In order, the lots to be re-striped include: the large rectangular-shaped lot off of Church Street, near Insta-Copy; the lot in front of the Southwest Environmental Center; the lot facing Campo Street by American Linen; lots immediately north and south of Municipal Court; parking off of Water Street behind Day's Hamburgers and the Rio Grande Theater; southern parking lots between Griggs Avenue and Bowman Avenue; and lots in southeast downtown.

"The priorities were determined by the lots that have the most traffic," Martin said. "The feedback we're already receiving is positive. Some of the emails we've received indicate that people are glad to see the stripes back in the lots."

Bea Grayson, who regularly goes to the farmers market on Wednesday and Saturday, said she's encouraged with the changes happening downtown.

"It's getting to the point where more and more people want to come downtown again," Grayson said. "Main Street reopening is obviously a big plus, but paying attention to the details, like making sure parking lots are striped, only adds to the renewed interest people are beginning to have about downtown. Little by little, it's coming back to life again."

Steve Ramirez can be reached at 575-541-5452. Follow him on Twitter @SteveRamirez6

Finding a parking space

— Re-striping of parking spaces in eight downtown lots has begun.

— The city-owned parking lot at the corner of Griggs Avenue and Water Street, south of El Paso Electric Co., has been re-striped, as have the lots near the city's Museum of Nature and Science and the Branigan Cultural Center.

— The city's Public Works and Transportation departments are combining materials, labor and other resources to re-stripe the parking lots.

— Seven lots remain to be re-striped, and those will be done one at a time through June.

— The city is re-striping 900 parking spaces downtown. Altogether, there are 3,367 parking spaces downtown, including on-street parking, private business parking, public lots and public buildings.